Odile

Julia Margo Johns

English & Communications—4th Year

trumpets erupted

& she appeared

like an angel incarnate

with her seraphic face

& ethereal grace

veiling a serpentine smirk—

she flit into the ballroom

passed nobles & royals

who were to her as peasants

& her seduction ensued

arms fluttering like wings

body arcing into crescents

toes balancing feather-light steps

that she-devil preened

at the ease of her masquerade

for the court & the queen & the prince

were naught but fools

blinded

by her eclipse

her power

was her body

bewitching as the moon

her power

was her will

black, wicked, & cruel

she was not like pathetic, little Odette

who needed a prince to save her

she was a dark ruin that would bring kings

to their knees

the dance of deception made her bones sing

because she knew who she was

a snake

a devil

a winged-beast

& all through the denouement

she loved being

the black swan